Currently, a large number of electronic equipment are connected to electrical, optical or other forms of signal transmission cables by quick-connect/disconnect connectors of the plug and receptacle type. However, as electronic equipment becomes smaller, more components are being squeezed into tighter spaces. Accordingly, cables that service the components are also becoming densely packed. As more cables are attached to a piece of equipment, individual cable connectors have become more difficult to insert or extract from the equipment due to the corresponding increase in the density of cable connectors. The tight space between cable connectors prevent fingers from adequately reaching a particular connector without disturbing, and possibly damaging, adjacent connectors.
Tugging at the cables is an unsatisfactory alternative to plugging or unplugging the cables by the connectors because the components within the cables can be damaged by rough handling. In addition, most modern connectors have a locking feature to prevent inadvertent decoupling. Such a mechanism is a feature of most fiber optic connectors. Examples of such connectors include screw-in, snap-in and quarter-turn type locks. Conversely, the cables are generally too flexible to serve as a adequate handle for inserting the cable connectors into the equipment. Moreover, even if the cables are stiff enough to support the connector to insert the connector into its port, such an effort may also induce stress at the junction between the cable and the connector, once again damaging the components within the cable. It would be desirable to have a hand tool that is capable of inserting and extracting cable connectors within an area having a high density of cable connectors without having to disturb the adjacent connectors.